Perspectives: Initial impressions of Nikon D90 on the OpenForum

Ars OpenForum members have been posting their thoughts on Nikon's D90 SLR …

Editor's Note: As part of our effort to make Kit more of an outgrowth of the forums, we're bringing back a feature that we started once but then let die. "Perspectives" is where we try our best to distill the Ars forum's take on a particular product or technology, mainly by zeroing in on one thread and summarizing the dialogue—both the moments of consensus and the disagreements. We got a lot of positive response to the last one, and as always, your feedback is appreciated. —Jon Stokes

The endless Nikon-Canon debate started leaning heavily in Nikon's favor this year with the release of the Nikon D3 and D300. Both pro-oriented cameras had seriously updated sensors and vastly improved low-light/high-ISO performance, previously the singular hallmark of Canon's DSLRs. Nikon, getting a jump on the Photokina hype, introduced the Nikon D90: a compact, advanced amateur camera using essentially the same 12 megapixel sensor as the D300. But the D90 also featured a DSLR first: video recording, and at HD quality at that.

One of our long-time forum members, Marvin_Runyon, recently got a D90 and posted some of his first impressions. "Coming from a D50, I'm very impressed," he wrote. Needless to say, the D90 is a step up in a number of ways from the D50, which is an older, entry level model. But, he says, "I'm not entirely sold on the new 18–105 [kit] lens when compared to my 18–70."

At the behest of readers, Marvin_Runyon posted a quick ISO 4000 snap of his cat shot in dim, indoor lighting. The sample isn't terribly sharp, but the tonal range and white balance are especially good given the less-than-ideal lighting conditions. However, as one reader pointed out, the image does suffer from an obvious "hot pixel," a bright spot that results from the high level of amplification used to take pictures in such low light. "The hot pixels [are] disappointing, I would have expected the camera to do something about it before processing the JPEG," wrote NetMasterOC3. "Something other than seriously exacerbating it."

The hot pixel that popped up in Marvin_Runyon's D90 example shot.

Marvin_Runyon clarified in his response that he hadn't really played with all of the settings for high ISO Noise Reduction; and he further elaborated: "I too was disappointed to see that hot blue pixel, but it wasn't present in a 3200 ISO test shot I took, so maybe it is only making it through filtering on the HI settings."

Posters were divided on the utility of the D90's Live View feature. Marvin_Runyon noted that "playing with Live View gives a good feel for just how cool VR (Vibration Reduction) is." Forum member oatmeal tried out a D90 at Circuit City, and he "couldn't find a way to change ISO while in Live View. Also, Live View wouldn't display what the image would look like, which the [Canon] XSi does do." Though Utildayael doubted that Live View's utility even justifies its existence, both Tegid and darkwolf777 disagreed.

"There is value to it. I know I could use it when shooting my daughter. I can make faces at her and shoot her at the same time," wrote Tegid. Darkwolf777 added, "I can see its use for things like framing over your head, or down low. Or hanging over a bridge/cliff/waterfall/etc., where you cannot practically or safely get your face up to the viewfinder to frame your shot."

A still from jamesmel9's camera shows the problems with camera motion and Nikon's D-Movie feature.

As far as the HD video recording feature goes, Marvin_Runyon was able to post a short sample showing the feature in action. Though Nikon's samples are very impressive, none of those reveal the problem the D90 has with camera motion (a more obvious example here). The problem is due to the sensor in the D90 recording a frame by scanning one line at a time, instead of capturing a full frame in an instant. This scanning bends and distorts straight lines, making them appear to wave from side to side. Also, autofocus is not possible while recording, though Marvin_Runyon notes that the large viewfinder makes manually focusing easy enough. The same feature on Canon's EOS 5D Mark II appears to capture motion more faithfully and has a usable, albeit slower, contrast-detect autofocus while recording.